Looks don't matter
by 123pearlshipping
Summary: If you love someone, you overlook their appearance. True love comes from the person, not their looks. That's what Ash believes. Ash X Serena ,AASL, SatoSere, Amourshipping
1. Your looks don't matter,

Stood in front of the mirror in her room, Serena examined her appearance intensely, looking for any faults at all. A strand of hair misplaced, anything on her clothes, on her face, anything at all.

She had cleaned her clothes herself, making sure they were spotless and neat before she even put them on. With her short hair, she had brushed it, over and over again until there wasn't a single knot present , and it was as straight and silky smooth as... Well, silk. When she ran her own fingers through it, she herself was beyond in love with the feeling she got from it, stroking it a few times before carrying on. It seemed to shine and reflect light. No make up, mostly because she didn't have any, but that wasn't stopping her from going out and buying some. The reason she didn't want to use make up was because she simply didn't want to hide her face behind those kinds of products. Anyway, she'd only have to put more on after a few hours, something which, despite her own femininity, she despised doing.

So there she was. She had done everything she could to look sufficiently cute and beautiful. Looking in the mirror, she had to admit, she wasn't usually a vain person, but she did actually look really good today. It was one of those few times a girl actually felt pretty. She had never been the type to doll herself up like this. Yes, she had been into fashion since she was young, but she never put a lot of effort into looking good in her regular attire. Yes, she liked to stay clean, but then again, exactly who enjoys walking around covered in dirt?

So, why was she so intent on looking good today?

The reason was simple. It was to try and get Ash's attention.

She felt her heart beat whenever she even heard or thought about the name. A small blush appeared on her face, and she uncontrollably gave a small smile. When she was younger, she had had these feelings too, but she had been unaware as to what they were back then, when she was so young and naïve to those emotions.

She had tried a lot of tactics to get him to at least notice her, but nothing seemed to work. She had battled, preformed, battled alongside him, helped him on his way, and that was just stuff any given friend would do. She had tried to hint at her feelings for him, occasionally nearly coming right out and saying it. She had tried to get his attention by battling hard, by training, following his example, but it never seemed to work. So, she was trying something new today. With any luck, she could charm him with her appearance today.

"Serena?" There was a flurry of light knocks on her door. Serena could identify by the knocking on the door that Bonnie was the one stood outside. "What's taking you so long? Clemont and Ash are waiting for you."

"Sorry, sorry!" Serena said, before grabbing ahold of the door knob, and opening it to allow Bonnie to enter the room.

Upon entering the room, and seeing Serena, Bonnie seemed to blush in awe, smile and widen her eyes, which then began to sparkle. "Wow, Serena! You look so pretty!"

Serena blushed lightly upon hearing the comment. "Thanks, Bonnie."

"You know, I bet Ash will defiantly notice how good you look today." Bonnie teased, giggling after she had finished her sentence, and at Serena's blushing, making her reasons for working on her looks for so long obvious.

"Shush, Bonnie!" Serena hissed, putting a finger on her lips, signalling 'quiet', paranoid of any passing onlookers. Bonnie herself had put the pieces together herself, which was smart and quite perceptive for a child her age. And ever since she had figured it out, Serena had had to tread lightly when around Ash, of fear that Bonnie would reveal anything.

"I'm only teasing you, Serena." Bonnie said with a giggle, before sitting on the bed Serena had just made. Serena let out a sigh in a combination of relief, annoyance and mild irritation. She loved Bonnie like she was the little sister she never had. But that was also part of the problem, In that Bonnie had also started acting like she actually was Serena's little sister, and that included all the downsides to having a younger sibling as well.

"Sorry." Bonnie said again, still smiling.

Serena decided to let it go, and went about straightening out her clothes again. "I'm not too sure what else to try. I've tried everything I can think of. So... I'm going to try and charm him." She blushed lightly, hiding it in her hair.

"You think that'll really work on Ash of all people?" Bonnie asked with a sly look on her face.

"For someone so young, you know way too much about romance and that sort of thing for my liking." Serena muttered. "I don't know." She said, louder. "He liked the performers during the showcases, didn't he?"

"He liked the performance and the Pokémon. I don't think he even looked at any of the performers themselves." Bonnie shrugged. "Not like my brother. He acts like he doesn't want me to find a wife for him. He plays dumb, but I've seen him looking at some girls. Maybe one of them would make a good wife for him."

Serena sweat dropped and smiled. "I doubt Clemont has marriage on the brain as much as you have."

Bonnie nodded. "But I think you might have it on the brain lately as well, don't you?"

"Shush!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

* * *

Ash and Clemont had been handing out the breakfast for the Pokémon during this time. Their ever growing Pokémon family was getting more and more requirements in the means of food, making meal times a bit of a hassle sometimes.

Luckily, Ash's Goodra mainly ate leaves, which made getting Goodra's meals a lot easier. Ash had collected what had amounted to a small mountain of leaves, collected from the nearby trees and brush for Goodra's morning meal.

"That enough, Goodra?" Ash asked, dumping a pile of leaves in front of Goodra, adding to the pile, then taking a step back and sighing a sigh of exhaustion.

Goodra took a chomp into a leaf, smiling at its trainer, before, characteristically of its species, hugged Ash tightly.

"Woah, Goodra, take it easy, buddy! Relax man! You're gonna crush me here, c'mon, give it a rest!" Ash said while laughing, trying to push himself away from his powerful dragon type. Eventually he was able to separate from his affectionate Pokémon, but not before being covered in Goodra's slime. A slightly irritating side effect.

Ash retrieved a towel and began to wipe off the slime that Goodra has covered him in. "Yeuch. What do you thinks keeping Serena and Bonnie so long?" Ash asked, wiping slime from his face.

"I'm not sure..." Clemont sighed, craning his neck to look at the doorway to the sleeping rooms behind him. He was sat on the couch near Ash and the Pokémon, helping fill up dishes with Pokémon food. To his right there was a metallic ball of an invention that he had been working on all morning. Filling up another two dishes with Pokémon food, he reflected on what his sister had told him previously, about Serena trying to get Ash to notice her. Like Bonnie, he had noticed Serena's affection towards Ash, something he saw absolutely no issue with whatsoever, but he was beginning to worry if those affections, if unchecked, would affect Serena in a negative manner. He had noticed her actions as of late changing, presumably to try and gain Ash's attention. Treading lightly, while handing the dishes to Ash, he asked "Have you noticed anything... Different about Serena lately?"

Ash took the dishes and placed them in front of Fletchinder and Chespin. "Not... Really. Why, what do you mean, 'different'?"

"I'm not sure. A bit... Out of the ordinary, I guess."

"Why, have you noticed something up with her?" Ash asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I was just tired." Clemont finished, shrugging off the question, realising he wasn't going to get anywhere with this.

Ash sighed. The truth was, he had noticed. Serena had been acting less shy around him and more open, which was something he didn't mind at all. She seemed happier, which by extension, made him happy too. The deeper truth behind that was cease he liked her, a lot. The way she acted around him, how she treated him, how much he valued her as a person, all these things lead up to his development of feelings towards her. As time went on, he felt less inclined to help her because he felt she needed it, but more inclined to help her because he wanted to. He had faith in her abilities as a trainer and a performer, yet he always wanted to help her improve in any way he could. He wanted her to do well. Seeing her first performance fail, and see how upset she was hurt him too. But her symbol of resolve he saw the next day made his feelings for her only grow stronger, seeing her learn from defeat, and use it as fuel to get better - something he always tried to do. Seeing her as a person, he had grown to love her for that.

"Well, in any case, I hope she shows up soon. We've got to get back on the road soon." Ash said, taking two more dishes, the final two, and placing them for Braixen and Pikachu. His partner Pokémon let out a squeal of gratitude, to which Ash smiled at. He didn't want Serena to rush herself just so they could get back on the road. He simply wanted her to rush so he could see her.

One thing Ash had learnt to do well was hide how he felt. He was, as it turned out, quite good at pretending indifference. He didn't do it out of cruelty, to mess with Serena's emotions, which he felt he had inadvertently caused a few times, upon which he had felt immense guilt. Nor did he do it out of fear of rejection, as his main reason do this was that he never even thought about it. He would simply live with what happened. The reason he didn't tell her, why he feigned indifference to her romantically was because he saw how hard she worked on her performances with her Pokémon on a daily basis. The energy and passion she put in to every second of practice with her Pokémon, and some of the grand results that the fruits of their labour resulted in were simply stunning. Ash didn't want to interfere with this. He knew how much Serena's goal meant to her, how much time and energy she put into it. Even if she did like him, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to tell her, as it might distract her from her goal. He sometimes contemplated what he would do if Serena admitted she liked him first. Then it might be a different story. Only she knew if she could balance both her training for Pokémon performances and maintain a romantic relationship. He felt that if he said something first, it could throw her off her practice. Though sometimes depressing, he had accepted these facts to be true. He had considered telling her on several occasions, but to no real avail. Maybe he would tell her before he left Kalos. He mentally sighed. That was a long wait...

At that moment, Bonnie came running into the room, in a near sprint, narrowly missing bumping into Ash and jumping onto the couch, next to Clemont's invention. She had a big smile on her face, something Ash had learnt either meant Bonnie found another potential wife for her brother, or something special was about to happen, and she was the only one who knew about it.

"Bonnie, did you check on Serena like I asked?" Clemont asked his sibling, as he packed away the Pokémon food and the already used and washed equipment into his backpack.

"Uh huh, I did, Clemont!" Bonnie answered, stifling a giggle between her words, clearly excited about something.

"What're you so happy about?" Ash asked, an eyebrow quizzically raised at the younger sibling.

"Just wait 'till you see Serena!" Bonnie giggled, winking towards Ash.

Ash was confused at this. What the heck did that wink mean to start? And what was special about Serena today? Did Serena do something?

That question was about to be answered. The group heard Serena's footsteps coming from down the hall. Their Pokémon weren't too concerned, and kept about their business. But for Ash and Clemont, both intrigued by Bonnies choice of the Roding, kept an eye on the corridor she would have to walk out of. Bonnie, meanwhile, kept giggling, clearly imagining a variety of scenarios this could go down in.

"Morning everyone! Sorry I took a while."

There she was. Turning the corner, she had come into the view of the group. The change of appearance, though it was only minor cosmetic changes, were glaring and obvious. To begin, she looked clean, and while that was a given for everyone, she was clean in the personification of 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness". Her shorter hair was sparkling, reflecting in the sunlight, and her outfit seemed flashier, despite having no changes whatsoever. Her bow, the possession she held most dear to her heart, and as such, was located at her chest, has been washed, as it was brighter than before. The pervious night, Serena had washed it herself, without the use of the Pokémon centres washing machines, as she had done with her other clothing. She didn't trust it to not get damaged. She knew it was a silly thing, but the ribbon mean so much to her. It was her precious gift from Ash, and she held it so very dear. It contradicted the rest of her outfit, making it stand out more. Altogether, she looked, to put it simply, incredible.

To Ash, she looked very little different. He noticed her outfit and hair had undergone a severe cleaning, which while Ash admitted looked nice, didn't really do a thing for him.

As far as he was concerned, she was regular old Serena.

"Wow Serena, you've really outdone yourself today." Clemont said, complimenting her appearance. While normally Clemont wouldn't say things such as that, he had made an exception for this. He could clearly see that Serena had put a lot of effort into looking her best today. That aside, she had done a damn good job at it too.

"Uh huh! You look really pretty, Serena!" Bonnie nodded in agreement. She then turned to Ash, smiling, "Don't you think so too, Ash?"

Ash scanned Serena. To him, she didn't look any different. It was obvious that she had straightened herself out, but he couldn't really tell a tangible difference in her appearance. But her didn't have it in him to tell Serena that. Instead,meh replied, "Yeah, she looks fine to me."

With that begin said, the group discussed it's next move. Clemont pointed out a route, and the group had agreed on it. Their Pokémon returned to their Pokéballs, and their equipment packed away, the group began to set out.

But for Serena, it was a depressing walk. She felt defeated, and the thought depressed her. Her plan hadn't worked in the slightest. And now, she was all out of ideas.

* * *

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand there we go : D little late, but shut up, it's fine. This is basically going to be a short side project I have in the works while I work on 'One Day Off' as a main priority. Let me know what you think about this idea, and this story in general. I hope you enjoyed, and as always, I'll see you in the next chapter. See ya!


	2. They will fade with time,

Their travels for the day ended, and Serena found herself wandering the corridors of the Pokémon centre they were staying at tonight aimlessly, not totally focused on where she was going, too depressed to really care. She had been like this all day during their travels, and when asked by Bonnie, she forced herself to smile and say to the younger child "I'm fine, Bonnie. Don't worry about me."

Which, of course, had been a total lie. She was anything but fine. How could she be fine?

She found herself outside her room eventually. Without any form of enthusiasm for a hot shower, a warm bed, or a good nights sleep, or much of anything at all, she fumbled around for her key, inserting it into the keyhole, and unlocked the door.

"Hey, Serena."

She turned to face down the corridor to see Ash waking towards her. He was the last person she wanted to see right now. She felt like she couldn't even face him now. Like she didn't have the right to.

"You alright? You've looked down all day." Ash asked her. His voice filled with concern. Concern, Serena thought, that he showed nearly everyone. She supposed it was nice of him to worry.

"Nothing. It's fine, really." She said, giving him a small smile.

"You're turning in already? It's still light out." Ash questioned her, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Yeah it's just... I... I'm really tired, I can't feel energy for anything right now, you know, because of the heat and everything... I think I just need a long lie-in tonight." Serena sighed, lying once again.

Ash looked at her for a few seconds. He was almost certain she was lying, but he felt it best to leave her alone. "Well... Okay then. Just make sure you get some food, okay? We've barely eaten a thing all day, you'll need to eat to keep your strength up. I don't want to see you passing out out of hunger."

Serena nodded. "I will. Thank you, Ash." And with that, she entered her room, and closed the door behind her. Once inside, she locked the door, and turned away from it, leaning against it. Across from her was a mirror, reflecting her image back at her. She could still see all the effort and work she had put into looking her best today. She walked up to the mirror until she was only a few steps away from it, and examined herself, top to bottom. Why? Why hasn't it worked? Why hasn't Ash noticed her?

She looked, constantly, searching for a fault in herself. Maybe her hair? When she had cut it, had she ruined her chances? Maybe he liked longer hair? Or her clothes? Was that something that had put him off her? Or was it her chest? Was it not big enough?

...

When in the hell did she begin to think like that? Serena fell face first into the bed, flustered at herself, and frustrated at her failure. She couldn't figure it out. Why? She had been confident her plan to charm him today would work. So why hadn't it? The fact it ended in failure was a huge blow to her confidence in general. Was she just not pretty enough to him?

* * *

Ash sighed while he walked back to the lobby of the Pokémon centre. He was worried about Serena. She hadn't been acting right all day, which was weird, seeing as she seemed so happy during the morning. Seeing her like that had put a smile on his face, but the way she had acted the rest of the day had worried him. She hadn't even smiled all day. Yes, she looked like she had, but those weren't really smiles. They were as real as three dollar bills. He scratched his head. "What's up with her?..."

He turned into the lobby. Empty, but through the glass sliding doors, he was able to see Clemont and Bonnie with all the Pokémon. Clemont was to the side, tinkering with some collection of metal, whilst Bonnie was playing a game of some sort with the Pokémon which included a large inflatable ball. Ash walked out the open door and sat opposite to Clemont, barely calling any attention to himself at all.

"Ash? Where's Serena?" Clemont asked him, looking up from his collection of metal and tools.

"She said she was tired, and wanted to sleep in late tonight. She looked fine..." Ash explained. He rested his head in one hand and looked over the Pokémon and Bonnie as they played their game, not really paying all that much attention to what was happening in the game, his mind preoccupied with more important issues.

At some point, the ball had been knocked away from the game vicinity, and Bonnie and the rest of the Pokémon left to retrieve it. This sudden rush of movement snapped Ash back into reality, just in time to hear Clemont sighing and saying, "You know Serena is depressed because of you, right? She put her heart and soul, and everything she had into looking good just for you today, wanting you to notice her, to think she looked pretty. She did all of that for you. And all you could say was that "She looks fine"? I'd have been amazed if she wasn't depressed."

Ash sat motionless for a few moments, before taking in a large gulp of air, and letting it all out in a heavy sigh. "I know, Clemont. I know it's my fault." His guilt clearly showing, his head hung low.

Clemont held his hands up, trying to motion for him to stop. "Uh, I didn't mean to..."

"it's fine, Clemont. You're not saying anything that isn't true." Ash said solemnly. He looked up at Clemont. "You know why I didn't say anything?"

Clemont shook his head, indicating that he did indeed not know.

"Because looks don't matter. Not to me at least, and they shouldn't for anyone. I don't want Serena to think she has to look pretty for me to notice her, and for me to like her. I noticed her a long time ago. Probably when she was looking her worst. But I don't mind that. I'm not like that. A lot of people are, but I'm not. You can't tell what someone is like just by their appearance." Ash sighed again, tinting red slightly. " I like her as she is. She doesn't need make up, or flashy clothes, or new hair-styles. I like her how she is now, that is to say, herself. I've never had a friend, or caught, Pokémon before simply because I thought they looked appealing. Why would I do the same for love?"

This had been the first time Ash had told anyone how he felt about Serena, especially the use of the word 'love'.

Clemont nodded in agreement. "But still... I don't think there's anything wrong with someone looking good..."

"Of course not, but people take stuff too far, and don't care about anything else other than looks." Ash said. He thought back, thinking of when he first developed these ideas. Upon reflection, it was probably while he was traveling with Brock. He'd seen the same thing happen to him nearly a thousand times, and that wasn't even an exaggeration, and each time he had gotten rejected, and gotten over it almost instantly. After a while, Ash began to find it strange, that if he 'loved' these girls as much as he claimed, that he would give up so quickly, and why he would fall in love with other girls so easily. To Ash, it didn't feel right. And after years of traveling with people, Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Serena, everyone else, people's whose appearance simply didn't bother him, he began to get this idea in his head. The outside is irrelevant, the inside is. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly. In Serena's case, she had both, but Ash barely even focused on the outside. At least not immediately. It just seemed pointless to him, in the grand scheme of things. Once you're old, your looks will fade away, but you and your heart will not, for as long as you live.

"Still..." Clemont said, shattering Ash's though process, "Thats all very honourable and idealistic, but the problem remains that Serena's still upset over her failed efforts. You know she likes you."

Ash nodded silently. He had known about her feelings for him for a while now. And he felt the same way, yet he couldn't bring himself to tell her. He couldn't figure out when though. It was like there was something that had to be sorted before they could date one another. He had spoken about it with Clemont previously, but he didn't have the answer either.

"Maybe you should just talk to her? Get this all out in the open." Clemont suggested.

"Maybe... But honestly, what the heck am I meant to say? What am I meant to do?" Ash asked, his face having gone red. "I haven't done anything like that before."

Clemont closed his eyes. "I don't know. But Serena isn't going to get better if this carries on..."

* * *

Serena laid in bed, laid on her side, staring at the wall, not particularly in focus at all, lost in thought. In front of her, she saw Ash. But it wasn't really him. More like a memory, that played out on the wall. A bit like a movie, being played through one of those overhead projectors she had seen in Professor Oaks camp. Memories of them when they were younger, memories of when they traveled together. She felt her heart ache. She wanted him. She wanted him here, now, just sat with her. They didn't even have to talk, just as long as he was there with her, she wouldn't mind. But no. She had sent him away, and locked the door behind her. She had denied herself his companionship. She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a heavy knock on the door. Ash's. She had gotten good at identifying knocks. Lights and rapid was Bonnies, heavy was Ash's, and a metallic like knock was Clemont's, using his Aipom arm to knock the door. Upon hearing Ash's knock, she felt her heart beat harder. Had she caught a break? She jumped up, called out, "Yeah, I'm coming!", dusted herself down, then ran and flung the door open. And there was Ash, holding a box.

"Hey, uh, Serena. I uh... I asked around, and everyone said you hadn't gone down to the cafeteria... So... I brought you this." He held out the box. On top of it were a set of chopsticks. "I didn't know exactly what to get you, so I bought you one of their lunch boxes. I didn't want you to go hungry."

Serena looked at Ash, then at the box he was handing her. She managed to smile faintly, and took the box into her hands. "Oh... Thank you, Ash."

Ash nodded. "Well... I'm gonna go get back to the Pokémon." Ash began, starting to walk down the corridor before he felt Serena grab ahold of his hand. She held it tightly, afraid of him leaving her alone.

Serena went red lightly, but continued, not wanting to be left all alone "Ash... Could you... Please... Stay with me, for a bit?..."

Ash felt his cheeks heat up lightly. "Huh? What for?"

"I just... Don't want to be alone."

"You could always come out and join the rest of us outside..."

Serena shook her head. "I don't want to be with the group right now... Just you..."

Ash blushed and sighed. "Okay, okay, If that'll make you feel better." He smiled at her. A smile that spoke concern and friendliness both at the same time.

* * *

The two of them sat close to one another on the bed, both looking opposite directions, not making eye contact with one another. Ash was confused as to why Serena wanted him in here in the first place. Upon reflection, Ash remembered what Clemont had said earlier. Maybe that was related?...

Serena, meanwhile, was just happy to have some company, and, best of all, it was Ash's company. There was so much she wanted to say right now, so much to ask, so much to do. But she was nervous. As much as she had longed for Ash's company, now she had it, she wasn't sure what to do with it. Neither of them had said a word since sitting down, reflecting a feeling of awkwardness between the two teens.

"Serena, are you gonna eat that?"

Ash pointed at the lunch box he had brought Serena. It currently sat between the two of them on the bed, unopened, barely even glanced at by Serena. She was hungry, but didn't really want to eat. It was difficult to explain.

Serena glanced at the lunch box, then at Ash. "Oh, um... I don't know... You could have some if you'd like..." She then began to stare right back at the wall she had been staring at before. She felt guilty for not eating the food Ash had brought her, but she didn't feel like she could stomach food right now.

Ash waited for a couple on minutes. He reluctantly sighed. He then reached for the lunchbox, and took a peek inside. He had lied when he has said he didn't know what they had out in the lunch box, he had picked everything himself, remembering his knowledge of the foods and drinks Serena enjoyed. He thought it would have been a nice surprise for her. He picked up the chopsticks that came with the the lunchbox.

"Hey, Serena?" Ash asked.

Serena turned, her eyes still lingering towards the wall. "Yes Ash, wh- mpff!"

When Serena had turned, Ash had taken a piece of food, and gently popped it into Serena's mouth. Serena was initially shocked, but quickly relaxed, blushing when she realised what was going on. Ash was feeding her! Wasn't this what couples did on dates? Ash smiled warmly, a smile that gave Serena goosebumps. She was basically at his mercy right now. The thought of that made her go Crimson.

"You have to eat, Serena." Ash said, taking the chopsticks out from her mouth.

Serena, completely forgetting her unwillingness to eat earlier, and nodded, chewing slowly. It tasted really good. She hadn't been one to feel this weak around anyone beforehand, but, she didn't know why, but right now, she felt weak. But it did t feel like a bad thing.

"Is it nice? Did I get the right things?" Ash asked.

Serena nodded. "It's delicious... Thank you..."

Ash chuckled seeing Serena like this. "C'mon, eat." He said, trying to give Serena the box. But it didnt really register to her. She couldn't stop herself from focusing on Ash. She was drunk on her love for Ash. She had never been like this before, but something inside her felt like it had awakened. She wanted to tell Ash so much it hurt her not to. "Am I gonna have to feed you this entire thing?" He said jokingly.

Serena winked. "Maybe."

Ash was puzzled slightly. She had seemed depressed not long ago, now it was like she was flirting with him... Regardless, he carried on playing the game Serena seemed to be playing. He picked up another bit of food, and fed it to Serena. For the first time in a while, Serena had a smile on her face. She felt close to Ash. That was all she wanted right now. She wasn't alone. She was with Ash. And she was happy.

At a couple of points, Serena had managed to steal the chopsticks from Ash, and had fed him some of the food, before Ash snatched them again. They remained in the room playing this game for quite some time. Ash was happy to see Serena smile and laughing again.

"Hey Ash?..." Serena said, after they had finished.

"Yeah?"

Serena sat up and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulders. "Thank you... For looking after me... Even when I was super depressed... You checked on me, made sure I was fed, played that stupid, silly game with me, made me laugh... Just... Thank you so much... It just... It means so much."

Ash blushed. "I-it's fine! Don't worry about it!"

Serena smiled, and without thinking, gave Ash a peck on the cheek, and closed her eyes. Before Ash even registered what had happened, Serena was already sleeping.

"Oh Serena... You really are struggling, aren't you?" Ash sighed, resting his hand on her head, running his fingers through her hair. He smiled at Serena as she slept. She was so peaceful when she slept.

* * *

Pretty damned sappy, even for my tastes, eh? I have no idea, I think i was extraordinarily tired when I wrote this, but, I kinda like it : )

Expect only one or two more chapters on this, this is only gonna be a short story, one k did mainly to get a couple of ideas out of my system.

Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. But no matter what,

Serena woke up slowly the next day. It was taking her a while to come to her senses. Longer than usual. She wasn't sure why. Maybe she was more tired than she initially thought. The first thing she noticed was an empty packet of food on her bed. It was then she remembered what the heck had happened last night. She looked left and right for Ash, not seeing him anywhere. She sighed lightly, and rested her head back on her pillow.

'Did I dream it?' She wondered to herself. What had happened in this "dream" was one of the most enjoyable experiences she had had with anything in her entire life. But it wasn't real? Serena wondered if she was being punished for something she had done. Having said all of that, the packet still remained right there. Had she had a late night snack?

"Morning, sleepy."

Serena would have jumped off of the bed and screamed down the corridor had she not recognized the voice. Rather, she turned her body and looked up, towards the ceiling. And there was Ash. Watching her, smiling.

Serena went red. "A-Ash?..." So, it wasn't a dream...

"Sleep well?" Ash smiled at the blushing girl, who was still drowsy. Ash found it cute. She was barely even awake, and already blushing like crazy, but she didn't have the senses yet, so she kind of stared at him in a half awake, her eyes half closed, her mouth slightly open type manner. Her face was a light red. She was so sleepy and out of it that she couldn't even manage to blush fully.

Ash had her head rested on his lap, using it as a pillow. He hadn't moved the entire night, not wanting to disturb her sleep. Throughout the night, he had been running his hands through her hair as she slept. While she slept, she seemed to respond positively to it. Occasionally, she would run a hand through her hair while she slept, messing up the straight hair Ash had been caking by running his hands though her hair, prompting him to stroke it straight again.

Her body had twitched a few times during the night as well. Ash wasn't sure if she was a restless sleeper, or having a heart attack at a couple of points,methought he may have just been over reacting. It was never anything major. Just one of her arms or legs moved to make Serena more comfortable. Her torso had tweaked once.

Serena was starting to fully come to her senses after a minute or two. She began rapidly checking let heft and right with her pupils, like a Patrat on watch for the rest of its clan, as if she were checking if they were being spied on. Once she was satisfied, she looked at Ash. She was now a dark red. "Um... What are you doing here?..."

Ash grinned and said, "You fell asleep on me. I couldn't really move even if I'd wanted to. So, here I am."

Serena would have gone a darker shade of red if at all possible. She got herself up, her head off of Ash's lap. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it for a second, Serena." Ash said kindly. In truth, he was sad it had ended. Yet he was very sleepy himself. He had stayed awake all night, watching over her. Usually he would have managed to find a way to fall asleep even in that position, heck, he'd tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't. Instead, he stayed awake, watching over her. He could have moved her, saying he couldn't have was a lie, but he didn't want to, at all.

"So, you sleep well? Good dreams?" Ash asked, trying to make some small talk. It was obvious Serena was embarrassed, feeling awkward about herself. Ash wanted to make her feel more relaxed.

"Yeah, I slept well." Serena said, trying to regain her composure. She sat on her knees while she spoke to Ash. Her loss of composure hadn't so much been about her sleeping on his lap, though that had been a part of it. What she was nervous about was that Ash would bring up what they did last night. She had enjoyed it, she wouldn't deny that in a hundred years, but to say she was now nervous at what Ash might say or think about it now, once the moment had passed, would be an understatement. Not to mention the kiss she had planted on his cheek. She regretted it, yet didn't regret it at the same time.

Ash, however, was completely fine with it. He hadn't let it linger on his mind too much, certainly not to the extent Serena had. He had had all night to think about it. And the conclusion he had come to was that it didn't bother him at all. He had enjoyed the experience, and it had helped Serena. As far as Ash was concerned, that was completely fine.

* * *

The two chatted further, for maybe 10 minutes, before they decided to check up on the rest of their group. Ash decided to go now. Serena told him she would follow in a bit. Ash went down alone.

He walked down the corridors to the canteen. He had an uncontrollable smile on his face, and was in a great mood. Despite his being tired, he felt great. He let out a yawn, and covered his mouth. He did realize, however, that he had effectively bailed on the rest of the group last night. He had said he was going to get Serena some food, then come back down, which he never did.

Entering the canteen, he saw his group, the two blonde siblings of Lumious City. The two of them noticed Ash as soon as he walked in.

"Morning, Ash!" Bonnie shouted across the canteen. A few people turned to look.

"Good morning Ash" Clemont said, partially raising his arm and doing a half wave at him.

Ash's Pikachu turned towards him when he heard all the commotion.

"Pika Pi!"

Ash's Pikachu saw its trainer and called him over in happiness, joyous to see its trainer again. His partner waved back at his yellow electric friend. Pikachu jumped onto a table, seemingly to get something. In its paws, it held up Ash's hat, then jumped down and ran to its trainer, jumping onto his shoulders, putting the hat on its trainers head for him, then smiling.

"Thanks buddy." Ash grinned, adjusting his cap so it rested more comfortably on his head. He then petted Pikachu's head, getting an affectionate squeal from the electric mouse Pokémon. He smiled at his long time friend, before turning to face Clemont and Bonnie. "Sorry I didn't show up again last night. I uh..." Ash started to say, but was cut off by Clemont holding up his hand.

"Don't worry about it. Serena's better now, right?" Clemont inquired.

Ash nodded, fairly confidently. "Yeah, I suppose. She seems to be doing better."

"That's good. Where is she?" Bonnie asked, wide eyed and excited to know where her sister figure was.

"She said she'd follow me in a few minutes." Ash shrugged.

Clemont readjusted his glasses and began writing something down with his right hand. With the left, he took a hold of his toast, and took a bite out of it. "So, where exactly have you been all night?"

Ash froze for a second. "Uh... Being used as a pillow for Serena..."

Clemont glanced at him.

"No, no, nothing like that!" Ash shook his head and hands frantically. He felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment at what Clemont's gaze suggested. He quickly explained what had happened last night in a brief summary. He left out the bit about his and Serena's little... Game, focusing instead on what had been said, and what else they did.

Clemont grinned. "She used you as a pillow? That would explain where you were." He had a teasing tone in his voice.

Ash laughed a bit and sighed. "I am... So tired right now." He laughed again, and rubbed his right eye free of sleep. He was gonna have to take it easier than normal today.

Ash sat down next to Clemont and helped himself to a slice of toast. He though about Serena. She was probably changing into her regular clothing now. But he thought about what he should do himself. He took a bite out of his toast. He wanted to tell her he liked her like she liked him. He did. He didn't want her to be like this anymore.

He sighed. He took another bite of toast.

"Tonight." He whispered to himself. "I'll do it tonight."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this quick update on this story! I wrote this in while In the hospital. Don't worry, I'm not dying. Chest pains is all. Strained muscle tissues. I did a quick update just so you guys remember this is a thing for ya'll. Sorry it's a bit short, but I felt like I couldn't do much with this chapter, and that I had to get something out for you all. Plus I've written 3 nearly 4000 word chapters for various stories this week. and It's Tuesday here. So... yeah.

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter on whatever I make next. See ya!


	4. No matter how you look,

Ash had taken a brief nap after breakfast, trying to restore his lost energy, and lift the curse of his exhaustion. He managed to get two hours of sleep. He supposed that would have to do.

His main concern for tonight was what he planned to do. He rubbed out the sleep that had accumulated in his eyes. He planned to tell Serena how he felt about her, hoping to break her out of this state she had gotten herself into, in addition to him feeling he could confess now. He was nervous of course, but more confident than anything else, considering he already knew about Serena's feelings towards him. What the actual concern was was trying to get her to realise she didn't need to be so judgmental on her own looks, which was something everyone had noticed her being more frequently.

Ash sighed, and stood up, stretching and yawning. Two hours of sleep wasn't exactly a lot to work with, especially in conjunction with the 48 hours he had spent awake over the last couple of days, but he went through it on willpower alone. He didn't have time to be sleepy.

He went through the he day as normal. Training, talking, eating, all as if nothing at all had happened between him and Serena. He spoke to her as if nothing had happened, as he thought little of it, even though it was pretty clear that Serena was still a nervous wreck. Ash was caught between amusement at her nervousness, and a sense of urgency for the night to come and they could get all this dome and over with.

Once the darkness swept in, both Ash and Serena said they were going to their rooms. In Serena's case, she was tired from practicing for her showcase, which was a believable excuse to most people. She had been training hard. In Ash's case, he said he had to catch up on some sleep, which no one questioned at all. He instead, however, spent time getting ready to see Serena tonight.

In terms of his appearance, he didn't change himself much, using the same logic he used for his choice in love. He dusted his clothing down, and obviously made himself presentable. Not caring about looks was one thing, but presentably was another. He debated wearing his hat or not, before throwing it casually on the floor of the room, deciding against it. He wasn't gonna need a hat for this. His hair was still messy and untidy, but he made sure it wasn't in his face.

Once Ash had done all that, he realized that he still had a bit of time before he planned to speak with Serena. He planned to speak to her at around 10 o'clock. He knew she'd still be awake by that time. And right not it was 9 o'clock. Ash decided to get a bit of shut eye, while he still had some time to spare. Closing his eyes, he visualized everything, how it would go down.

In he would go, and hopefully, finally, get Serena out of the mess she was in now. He hoped so, at least. He saw it all in his head, like he was there, even simulating things like sight, scent and touch.

* * *

Ash heard a faint, continuous beeping sound going off. Looking to his left, he saw his alarm clock. The one he set? He couldn't remember setting it. Then again, he was exceedingly tired, so he didn't remember much of what had happened today. He remembered his plans. That was about it. Looking at the alarm, it said 10:03. Okay, so he wasn't going to be punctually perfect. That didn't really matter though, did it?

He stood up, stretching, feeling some of the bones in his joints crack. He felt one sharp pain in his back for a few seconds, before quickly receding. He yawned, and sorted his hair out in the mirror a second time, before nodding to himself and deciding, 'Alright, enough procrastination. Let's do this.'

Ash made his way into the corridor, and made his way towards Serena's room. On his way, he bit his thumb in a nervous habit as he made his way to her room. One thing he hadn't gone through in his head was what he was going to say. How do you just bring something like this up causally in conversation? Should he open with it? Come out with it bluntly? Ease his way into it? He had no idea what he was doing. At this point he questioned his own sanity in doing this. But still... He had to remind himself, this wasn't for him. It was for her.

He finally stood in front of her door. Sighing, biting his lip, and praying for a smooth confession, he knocked on her door. Five knocks, all done in rapid succession. He waited for about five seconds, before getting a response. "Who is it?"

He put his head against the door and spoke. "It's Ash. Mind if we talk?"

Ash heard something bump, and Serena's footsteps. "S - Sure, just uh... Give me a minute..." Ash heard some clattering and movement from inside. Presumably the room wasn't exactly presentable. He waited patiently for her.

The door handle rattled, and Serena opened the door. "Um, yes Ash? What um... What's wrong?"

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Mind if I come in? We need to chat." Peering in through the gaps in the door. He could see her bed sheets were crumpled up. He also noticed that some of her belongings were thrown across the room. She had clearly not been taking the same care with her clothing and possessions that she normally would. Depression, maybe?

"Um... Sure." Serena opened the door wider so Ash could enter. "Sorry about the mess..."

Ash stepped into the room, and glanced around,and then shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm not here to chastise you about your room."

Serena smiled. "So, what do you plan to chastise me over?"

"Uh..." Ash scratched his head, trying to push his nervousness to the side. "Uh... You."

Serena looked at Ash. She shut the door behind her gently. "Me?... What about me?" She clearly had no idea what was coming. Neither did Ash.

"You've... Been acting weird, these last few days." Ash said. He felt like he was starting an intervention all of the sudden.

Before Ash could say anything, Serena responded. She sounded worried. "Um... How so?..."

"Well, for one thing, you've been acting incredibly nervous around the group, especially around me." Ash stated, holding up one finger.

Serena glanced to the left.

"Secondly, you've developed a stutter half the time." Ash stated again, holding up a second finger.

Serena bit her bottom lip. "Um..."

Ash held up his third finger before stating anything. "Finally, the kiss last night. That's a big one."

Serena seemed to shudder. She had hoped that Ash would have forgotten that, unlikely as it may have been. It wasn't something someone would just be able to push to one side, but she had hoped... "I... Uh... That's because..." Serena bit down on her bottom lip harder. It hurt, but she barely noticed that pain. She knew now that this would just go away because she wanted it to, no matter how much she longed for it. "Ash, that's because... I..."

"I know."

Serena stared at Ash. "You... You know what?"

Ash looked at Serena. The two were close. "I know uh... How do I put it... What you... Think of me." He said so with a scrunched up face, wondering if he had chosen his words correctly, worried he had upset or offended Serena.

Serena looked at Ash, slowly becoming more and more red as she registered what she had been told. "Oh... You... You do?... You know that I..."

Ash nodded.

"...like... you?"

Ash nodded again. "I'll be honest, we all knew... You didn't make much effort to hide it."

Serena looked to the floor, almost ashamed. She covered up her blush with her hands. On the floor, she noticed her red over vest, casually discarded. With one foot, she kicked it lightly from left to right, desperately hoping for the topic to change rapidly. Ash stayed quiet, waiting for her to say something first. Letting her feel comfortable with the current state of the conversation, before pressing on before she was ready. "Well..." She finally said, still kicking the over vest left from right. "Um..."

Ash sighed, and smiled warmly. "Truth be told, I hate seeing you like this, Serena..." Ash scratched his head again, fighting the urge to bite his tongue, tell Serena to forget everything, and exit the room as fast as he could. "So... I thought I should... Put you to rest... Cause I can't deal with this either..."

Serena felt her heart shatter. She could practically hear the words she dreaded.

"Look... Serena..."

Serena shut her eyes.

Ash bit his lips. This was it. Forming each word very carefully "I... I like you as well."

Serena's eyes opened. "Wh..."

"Look... The truth is... I've seen how you've been acting... What you've been doing... With your looks and everything..." Ash realized he was just going in circles. "Look... I hate how you've been acting... So worried about what you think I'll think based on how you look..." Ash looked at her, looking her in the eye. "I don't care about it..."

Serena was still totally dumbfounded, simply stood there, taking in all the information she had never expected to hear in her entire life. Rather, she had expected the opposite. Serena hadn't even begun to blush yet. That's how shocked she was.

"Look... Serena... I don't want to see you like this any more... I just want to see the happy Serena... The one I... " Ash paused for a second. Dare he say it? "...The one I... Love."

Serena looked at Ash, staring at him, not sure what to feel. Had he just said what she thought he had said? Was she dreaming?... Or had the boy she had loved all this time said that he loved her... Serena's reactions finally caught up with her. Her face went red with flush, and she found herself struggling to speak, a combination of both amazement and shock running through her veins, making her unable to form words correctly for a time. Her mouth gaped, and her eyes widened, her face, rapidly becoming more and more red. Her hands trembled, and her knees began to feel weak. What she had heard was something... Incredible... All this time, she had worried about her looks, because she had though that was all that boys liked... But she... Ash was one of those few, those rare kinds of boys, who didn't care about it... Serena felt her eyes begin to water. Someone like Ash, someone like him, an amazing person, a kind guy, and one of those rare people she didn't have to go through hell and back with a make up kit to make him like her... Loved a girl like her?...

Tears of joy began to run down Serena's rosy cheeks, a smile, one of sheer happiness, found its way onto Serena's face.

"Serena? What's wrong?... Oh God, I didn't upset you, did I?" Ash frantically asked, terrified he had upset the same girl he had come in here to help.

Serena dried her eyes quickly, and looked at Ash. "No... I'm just... I can't believe it... I'm... So happy I can't put it into words!"

Ash felt better at that statement, and smiled warmly at the girl in front of him. "Serena..."

Serena rushed at him, hugging him, laying her head on his chest, closing her eyes, and smiling as tears of joy ran down her cheeks once again. Finally, she was happy.

* * *

HELLO! THIS HAS BEEN A WHILE IN THE MAKING HASN'T IT?!

I'm writing this at 4:30Am, and I have to be up in 3 hours, and I also had a spat of chronic depression, so this was certainly a challenge, both writing wise and emotionally wise. Still, I got through it, so I'm happy about that!

So, here's a bit of personal stuff that went down. As many of you should know, I'm Demisexual. I believe I mentioned it a few times. In fact, you can thank that for this very story due to my Demisexuality. Basically it means, in case you don't know, that I don't fall in love due to appearances, and can only fall in love if I have a strong emotional bond with the person in question. A bit like Ash in this story. This is part of the reason why I got so depressed after basically being told to go die by my ex, which was bloody fun : D

Anyways, I got a message from someone (person who sent me a request and we got onto this subject, I won't name names, this doesn't refer to you completely.) basically telling me I'm going to hell, due to my Demi status. Honestly, I find that laughable xD

Like, I find it genuinely funny that you've somehow mistaken me for the thing you hate for... No adequately explained reason, but there we go. Real merciful God you got there, Anonymous (still not naming names.) Though that does bring me into a point.

I'm gonna put this as nicely as possible. If you have a problem with homosexuality, Bisexuality, Asexuality, Demi, or otherwise, put nicely, get the fuck off my page and story, and don't come back, be your dislike of people like us religious, prejudicial or otherwise. No, before you say it, I'm not against your religion, I'm against the bullshit prejudices that your religion falsely and disgustingly promotes. If you want seriously want to fight about it, PM me. Legitimately.

Normally I would never do anything like this, but considering this month is pride month, and how seeing people act that way does nothing to help my depression, and I'm the name of being more open and honest with you guys, thought I should mention it. I won't bring it up again, sorry about that, but I'd like to make my stance clear. Though I will say, I did find the message the guy sent me funny. It was basically 20 lines of misplaced bible quotes, terrible logic and I think he failed maths too. But regardless. Back to news you actually care about! (I'm so sorry XD)

Looks Don't Matter will be getting one final update, that much I promise. One Day Off and Requests have been eating away at a lot of my time. Not that I mind it of course. Speaking of requests, if you have any, let me know, and I can give it a shot!

Leave a review if you liked the story, and now, I'm gonna go and pass out, and I'll see you in the next chapter. See ya!


	5. I will always love you

Serena woke up earliest out of everyone the next day, by about 15 minutes. She shared her room with Bonnie as usual. Unlike the last few weeks, she woke up from a refreshing sleep, with a smile on her face. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, and glanced around the room, through half open eyes.

Yesterday had been one of the best occurrences of her life. In fact, no, the single best, without question or parallel. All her anxiety in her looks, in herself, had just vanished into thin air, evaporated into nothingness, just disappeared into the either. She sighed happily and flopped back onto her mattress. There was still another few minutes to go until the alarm went off and she became obligated to start doing things. She felt tempted to to go right back to sleep. She closed her eyes and pulls her duvet right back over her neck, under her chin as she relaxed.

She replayed the previous night in her mind. Before she had fallen sleep of course. With Ash. They had both confessed, hugged, Serena had cried it out in joy, they hugged again, and Ash had walked her back to her room where she fell onto her bed and fell asleep within seconds in an adrenaline, emotionally exhausted, sleep deprived state.

She smiled and felt herself become slightly giddy in her semi excited, half tired state. It had been a dream come true.

'Hang on a second.' She thought to herself.

Had they kissed? Running the night through again, she realised they hadn't. She paused for a second. Were they really boyfriend and girlfriend then? Of course she knew that yes, objectively, they said they were, but she was thinking on a more practical level. Did their words really mean a whole lot without a sort of seal? Serena thought about this for a while. She couldn't really decide. Though, that didn't change the main, underlying fact that deep down, Serena was longing for an excuse to kiss her crush / boyfriend. She went a little red underneath the sheets. How would she even go about getting that done?

She considered this for a while, before she came up with an idea. One that could end up in her getting to kiss her Ash, and one that might test his pretty words. It was a very simple idea, though it came at a small price of her personal preferences for a day, though that itself was a very small price to pay.

She couldn't get over how simple the idea was. Though she blushed at how she was going to have to act to get it done.

* * *

"You're serious?" Clemont asked, a little bit surprised at what Ash had just told him. Ash was a little disappointed. He had expected a more... Dramatic reaction. Then again, he could rely on Bonnie for that later. He had told Clemont out of a feeling of being forced to, as he already knew he was going to, but also out of a sense of obligation and almost gratitude, Clemont had helped him out a whole lot in the few recent events, even if it hadn't been intentional. Even if he had just forced Ash to seriously think about things, that had all lead to the previous night.

"Yep. I told Serena, and she told me." Ash said, clarifying what he told Clemont.

"I'm actually a bit surprised you went through with it to be honest. And I'm guessing it went well?" Clemont asked.

Ash grinned and nodded. "Yep."

"How's Serena?" Clemont asked.

"Haven't seen her since last night, but she seemed a lot better than she had been throughout the lat few weeks." Ash said. Thankfully. He wasn't sure what the heck he'd do if it didn't make her feel better.

"Wonder how Bonnie'll take it... She hasn't shut up about you two yet... I dread to think what she'll be like when she hears this one." Clemont sighed. Ash grinned. Looks like he'd get that reaction he wanted after all. "Either way, you did the best thing if you ask me." Clemont told him, smiling. "I'm happy for the both of you. Speaking of which... Uh, don't you think she would have wanted to tell us with you?"

Ash shrugged. "I don't think she'll mind too much. You know how she is. Besides, I'm betting she's gonna tell Bonnie before any of us."

Clemont nodded in agreement, and took a sip of his drink. "I guess you're right. Still, you should probably hold off on telling Bonnie until Serena shows up."

"Yeah." Ash took a large bite out of his breakfast before any more words were exchanged. He was starving. Outside, Bonnie was trying to clean Ash's Noibat's ears, but Noibat didn't seem to want to, and was perching itself on Bonnie's head, and despite all of Bonnie's shouting and trying to grab it, Noibat wouldn't come down, only occasionally flying above Bonnie's head to avoid her wings at it, and then landing back down, seemingly teasing Bonnie. Noibat was laughing, while Bonnie seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated, almost sulking every so often. Ash chuckled. Noibat was still young, like Bonnie was. They were getting along, no matter how it looked.

At that moment, Ash heard a clutter of footsteps rapidly approaching them quickly from the upstairs, speeding down the stairs, clattering towards them, before they stopped, just by the entrance.

It was Serena. Although she looked different. Different to how she has been trying to look for the past few days, anyway. She hadn't made much effort today, if any at all. Her clothes to start, weren't even tucked in the way she normally did them. Her hair was messy, not brushed, and, most likely due to her running, she was sweating a little, and gasping for breath, though Ash suspected she was over exadurating how much she was out of breath. She used her right arm as a rest, and rested it against the door, and her lower half of her body was hunched forward, as she caught her breath. Her stockings were uneven, one done up correctly, and one that was only half done. No make up, but that wasn't anything new. To be blunt, she looked a mess. Like she had dressed herself, then got dragged through a hedge, then climbed through it again to get back.

"Speaking of her," Clemont muttered to Ash, before turning to Serena. "Morning, Serena." He raised a quizzical eyebrow after registering her appearance. "Uh, are you alright?"

"Never better!" Serena chirpily replied, smiling happily at Clemont, and especially at Ash.

Clemont, now reassured of her general well being, smiled and replied, "I'll bet you are." Serena gave him a quizzical look, inquiring as to what he meant. "Ash told me."

Serena smiled back in understanding and a slightly giddy way. "But you knew anyway, didn't you?"

Clemont smiled. "Yeah, I knew. For a while."

* * *

The three went on and on, with Clemont congratulating them and calling Bonnie to start heading out on the road to end the conversation. Once they were all sorted and ready to go. Bonnie and Clemont made a dash out the door, followed by Ash and Serena. Before Ash could reach the door, Serena stood in front of him, and did a twirl.

"Well?" She asked.

Ash chuckled to himself. "You look like a mess."

Serena froze for a second, fearing she had made a huge miscalculation.

"Yet you still manage to look adorable doing it." Ash grinned. "Ive told Clemont, and I told you - look don't matter."

Serena blushed. "Th ... Then prove it."

It took Ash a few seconds to realise what she meant, and when he did, he blushed, but smiled. He took off his cap, revealing his black and messy hair. Their faces barely inches away, Ash froze slightly. His nerves suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. He had no idea how to kiss someone. He had never done it before in his entire life was there a particular way you did it? His eyes, which had been half open, half closed at this point, went wide as Ash drew a blank. His eyebrows buried inwards, and he began to sweat drop. 'So much for bravado.' He thought to himself.

Serena, whom had closed her eyes, opened them slightly, wondering what the hold up was. In a panic, Ash decided to just go for it, and half sincere, half panic stricken, pressed his lips against Serena's.

It took both of them a couple of seconds to get used to the sensation. It was like a current of electricity being surged into them at 10,000 watts a second. The two of them opened their eyes a bit wider, but soon relaxed into it. Though it only lasted about Seven seconds, it felt like an eternity of bliss to both of them. It was long enough.

"Hey, Ash, Serena, come on! We're going to leave you behind soon!" Bonnie yelled from outside. It was only at this moment the two teens realised they had kept everyone waiting. Serena quickly sorted out her image, and Ash out his cap back on. Holding hands, the two of them dashed out of the Pokémon centre. They still had to tell Bonnie, after all.

* * *

And that concludes Looks Don't Matter. I hope you enjoyed this infrequent story by me. Couple of things before I go. First of all, thank you so much for the support on both this story, And my little speech last chapter. Made me feel a whole lot better about myself and my stories, so thanks for that. Second of all, my next big story is... A complete mystery, because I have no idea myself. What I WILL say is I'm going to make it a good one for you guys, I promise you that much.

If you stuck with me through all this, try checking out my Tumblr for more Amour from me - (GamingEmpire)

And also check my YouTube channel - (GamingEmpireVideos)

And as always, I will see you in the next chapter of whatever I make next. See ya!


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